After a week of torrential rain, I was pleasantly surprised to find that my local team were still able to play, so decided to stay close to home and watch Worthing United of the Southern Combination Football League Division 1, in their league fixture with Jarvis Brook FC.

Worthing United play at the Robert Albon Memorial ground, named after a young player who tragically lost his life.

The ground has a club house and refreshment stand at the rear near Lyon away, but at pitch side now boasts covered seating for around 150 in a grandstand opened in 2017.

Worthing United have had a good start to the first half of the season and at kick off sat in second place, just three points behind leaders Godalming Town, although two games ahead of them in matches played. Worthing have scored, under managers Mark Curran and Glenn Souter, at roughly two a game, relying on the goals of Ethan Roberts (11 goals), Daniel Kingston (9 goals) and Dan Hills (6 goals). Today gave the home side a chance, with Godalming’s game being rained off, to secure a win to go top, albeit on goal difference.

Jarvis Brook FC, managed since November by Dominic Fitzmaurice, have done well to secure a stable opening to their first campaign in SCFL Division 1, since being promoted from SCFL Division 2 last season. The “Brook” as Jarvis Brook are known, came into today’s game in tenth place with 29 points from their 21 games. Goals this season have come from Jimmy Hoy (12 goals), Buster Hoy (10 goals) and Liam Edward’s (6 goals).

The game started with the home team looking confident. Early possession for Worthing United wasn’t really exploited, with too many final passes being loose or misplaced.

As the half progressed, Jarvis Brook began to create chances too. Worryingly for the home side, the Brook’s players seemed to find their passing boots, despite losing a player to the sin bin for dissent for ten minutes.

On the stroke of half time, the visitors took the lead when, having returned from a period in the sin bin, Jimmy Hoy found himself through on goal to slot past Xhemal Bako in the Mavericks’ goal making it 0-1 at the break.

The second half opened with more Jarvis Brook pressure but then on 61 minutes, Worthing were level, against the run of play, Ahmed Khamil tapping in as the ball broke to him on the far post.

The remainder of the second half was evenly fought but with no addition to the score. Just when it looked as if the game would end 1-1, in the 90th minute, Jarvis Brook’s Xavi Teagoe found himself with the ball at his feet in the opposition six yard box, to thump the ball home and give the visitors a 1-2 lead.

At the final whistle it was the visitors who took a well deserved three points from their visit to Worthing. The home side missed a chance to top the league and will regret their errors on the ball, which scuppered their efforts today.